Transcendence and Manipulation
People are always trying to understand and make sense of the world. Transcendence is part of this process.
We attempt to move beyond ourselves to “see” what’s on the other side of the things. Whether it's the unknown plane of an object (such as a chair or the dark side of the moon), or concepts such as love, our finiteness makes it so we cannot observe beyond our vantage point. Transcendence, then, makes us spend energy on trying to move from where we are, so that we can view the other side of something. And it's these unknown angles that make up the more complete picture of what something is. Having knowledge then demands that we move outside ourselves for a more complete understanding.
If we think about transcendence as a kind of movement towards the knowledge we want to collect, then there are two places of manipulation. The first is the point from which we launch ourselves, point A, and the second is the point we are projecting ourselves towards, point B.
Point A, the place we find ourselves, aka our launching point, is prone to altering our journey, because it’s not clear what reality is to begin with. Are we living in a simulation? Is dualism or monism true? Is historical materialism the only determining factor of history? Depending on how questions like these are answered, we eliminate the possibility of certain courses and, in return, eliminate the possibility at arriving at the point B we desired to begin with. As a result, what we have faith in becomes the most elemental part of reality. Faith is the structure from which we propel our entire selves. It is also something that can be changed if we're convinced of the Truth of something else.
Point B is the destination, or the place that our movement is directed. This point is vulnerable to us being convinced that the journey is not worth the effort, which can come from self doubt as well as the pressure others place on us. And since we don’t want to waste our lives on meaningless pursuits, we can become convinced of stories that generate a changes in direction. "There's probably nothing over there", says a voice in our head. Or, to pull an example from my own life, "What are you going to do with a philosophy degree?" Whether it’s the fact that no one else seems to be interested in our particular aim, or that people actively discourage it, can all be influential factors. And since the advice of others can be either cowardly or wise, listening to the wrong source can cause us to give up on our intuition and to go with the flow of the masses, or make us obstinate about feedback. The first being bad, because we stop contributing in meaningful ways and the latter, because we cut off sources that help inform us about the reality we're trying to know to begin with.
There is, of course, no way to completely protect ourselves against these manipulations, but there are ways to become more resolute in who we are and where we are going. One that rests on becoming more aware of what our inner-self leans upon and that takes responsibility for our life's aim. Realizing transcendence can't be accomplished through negative means can also allow us to crosscheck our lives to see if we are on the right path. The experience of things like hope, love, joy, and compassion are all significant indicators. The antithesis of these are instruments that warn us we are off course. That we aren't gaining in knowledge and understanding, but are, instead, being manipulated to an ends we didn't choose.